Dark Days and Darker Nights
by dancingirl87
Summary: Belle Black is having a great time at her eighth birthday party when Hope Brady storms in and announces that Jan Spears is dead in the marsh. Will be a future fic.
1. Prologue

Prologue  
  
The Black mansion loomed over all others on Madison Lane. Though it was impossibly huge it was truly beautiful as well. Marlena Black, wife of famous businessman John Black, had done everything possible to make the once cold and unfeeling house become warm and welcoming.  
  
And it was warm and welcoming. Flowers bloomed along each side of a stone path leading to the front steps, which also wove around the back of the home. The wrap-around porch was built of cedar and the scent often wafted into the house and made it smell somewhat like a forest. A matching garden swing sat in a corner looking out onto the tree covered front yard. Colourful potted plants hung from brass hooks from the ceiling and gave off a beautiful fragrance. A welcome mat rested outside the navy blue front door.  
  
Inside, the rooms were airy and brightly painted, providing a fun and fresh atmosphere. A fire crackled merrily in a stone fireplace in John's study, while comfortable chairs and a lovely stereo system gave the living room a relaxing feel.  
  
Up the curving staircase located in the entrance hall were seven bedrooms, with three in use. Marlena had decorated these too with varying colours but with the same love and care she put into the rest of the house.  
  
Down the back stairs was the kitchen, decorated with bright yellows and blues. If you went out the back door you would find yourself once again on the wrap-around porch.  
  
Sometimes, Marlena's young daughter Isabella liked to lean against the smooth railing and stare out at the beautiful green marsh that bordered the Black's property. Belle wasn't sure what, but something about the marsh piqued her curious young mind.  
  
It was that marsh that started it all. The marsh where Jan Spears was killed during Belle Black's eighth birthday party. 


	2. Chapter 1

June 23, 1987  
Salem, Illinois, USA  
  
Marlena Black placed a round cake with eight candles stuck in it on the crowded dining room table. The small girl who sat behind the large frosted cake was glowing with excitement. She turned her face up to her mothers and grinned widely, displaying a mouth full of baby teeth with only the front two missing.  
  
"Okay, Belle baby. It's time to blow out the candles," Marlena told her daughter, sliding a gentle had over Belle's silky blonde curls. Belle excitedly shut her eyes and took a deep breath. "Don't forget to make a wish."  
  
Belle sat in silence for a moment, deep in thought, while the other children seated around her moved closer. They were hoping to get the first slice of cake. Belle blew, and the all the candles winked out except for one.  
  
At once, a slightly plump, brown haired girl cried out, "Belle's got one boyfriend!"  
  
Belle flushed and angrily puffed the last candle out. "I do not Mimi! You don't know anything!""  
  
"I know you've got a boyfriend," Mimi retorted. Belle stuck her tongue out and Mimi did the same.   
  
Marlena sighed and picked up the knife she'd placed beside the cake. "Girls, please don't fight. This is Belle's party and we don't want any arguments." Mimi slid down in her chair sulkily, crossing her arms over her chest, but Marlena knew that she and Belle would be giggling together tomorrow. Marlena slid the knife into the silky white icing and cut a triangular slice.  
  
Belle picked up the plate as the cake was placed on it, and yelled, "Who wants the first piece?" The kids seated around her all shouted 'me' and 'I do' at Belle.  
  
Belle looked around the table and tried to decide who should get the first piece. To get the first piece of birthday cake was a special honour. Everyone wanted to be the one to get the first piece. Belle's gaze fell on a dark haired boy seated at the end of the table.  
  
Shawn Brady.  
  
Belle hadn't wanted to invite him, but her mother had made her because she was a close friend of Shawn's mother Hope. The town of Salem loved to gossip about Marlena Black and how she took pity in the poor because she was always seen with Hope Brady, but that was far from the truth.  
  
Marlena and Hope were close friends and had grown up together as next door neighbours. Hope had married Bo Brady, who wasn't very wealthy and lived on the other side of town. Marlena had married John Black, who at the time had only been wealthy but was now almost a millionaire. Although Hope and Marlena lived in different lifestyles they remained close friends and hoped that their children could do the same.  
  
Now, Shawn was sitting and looking angry, and Belle thought he was in need of a good thick chunk of cake. Belle jumped from her head chair gracefully and walked around the table until she was beside Shawn's chair.  
  
"Here you go Shawn," Belle said softly, putting the plate down in front of him, acutely aware that every kid at her party was watching them.  
  
Shawn looked up in surprise. "Oh... uh... thanks Belle." He looked back at his plate but didn't make a move to pick up his fork.  
  
Belle clasped her hands in front of her and suddenly felt nervous. What was there to be nervous about? It was only Shawn, the boy with the scraped knees and messy hair. Belle shook her head. There was nothing to be nervous about. "So, are you having a good time?"   
  
Shawn looked up again, surprised. He had thought Belle went back to her seat. Instead, she was still standing and talking to him. Shawn felt a sudden pang of nervousness in his stomach. What was he nervous for? It was just plain, prissy old Belle with the perfect hair. There was nothing to be nervous about. Nothing at all. "Yeah, I guess I am."  
  
Belle gave him a small smile. "That's good." She turned away to go back to her seat, but was stopped by a soft, gentle hand on her elbow. Belle turned around to fine Shawn holding her arm. He had soft hands. A strange thought for a brand new eight-year-old. Belle mentally shook the thought out of her head.  
  
"Happy birthday Belle," Shawn told her sincerely, giving her a small smile of his own.  
  
"Thank you Shawn." Belle went and sat back down at her seat. Mimi began chattering her head off and Belle giggled and laughed at the appropriate times. She wasn't really paying attention though. A certain dark haired boy sitting at the end of the table owned her thoughts.  
  
Shawn picked up his fork and picked at his cake. Beside him, Phillip Kiriakis asked him a question about football but Shawn ignored him. His thoughts were on a certain blonde birthday girl sitting at the other end of the table.  
  
Marlena, who had watched the whole conversation, sighed dreamily. She could just imagine what Shawn and Belle would be like when they were older. Shawn would be tall, tanned and muscular with dark hair and warm brown eyes. Her Belle would be slim and blonde with eyes like the blue sky outside. They would be perfect opposites and be perfectly happy.  
  
From down the table Marlena heard, "MOM! PRESENT TIME!" They were children now, but they would grow up and fall in love. Marlena was sure of it. 


	3. Chapter 2

IJune 23, 1987  
Salem, Illinois, USA/I  
  
After Belle had happily ripped presents open, Marlena ushered the rambunctious eight-year-olds into the den. It was probably the only room in the entire house that was completely childproof. After sending the live in maid, Ruth into the den to watch the children, Marlena settled herself down into a comfortable chair, intending to relax for a few moments.   
  
But before she could even begin to relax, Belle raced out of the den, followed by a grinning Shawn Brady. Belle was screeching as Shawn reached out to tug on her long curls. Marlena stood up and stopped the two in their tracks.  
  
"Mama! Tell Shawn to leave me alone! He's pulling my hair." Belle pouted and looked hopefully up at her mother. Maybe she could stop Shawn from being his annoying, smelly self.   
  
Shawn looked embarrassed and cast his wide brown eyes downward to the floor. He mentally scolded himself for being soo rude in the Black's mansion. "I'm sorry Mrs. Black," He said, before Marlena could say a word. "It won't happen again, I promise."  
  
Marlena was shocked. She had never seen a child act so mature before, let alone an eight-year-old boy. Marlena wondered who had taught Shawn to be so guarded when he was in other people's homes. "It's quite all right, Shawn. I'm sure Belle wasn't too hurt by it." Marlena had seen the pleasure underneath the anger in Belle's face. She had been pleased that Shawn had been paying attention. But Belle didn't want Shawn to know that.  
  
"Mama! Aren't you going to yell at him? He was pulling my hair on my birthday!" Marlena shook her head and Belle scowled, stomping back to the den. Shawn smiled at Marlena then chased after Belle.  
  
There was a sound on the front porch that sounded like a very tired someone running heavily. Belle and Shawn stopped to listen. The front door banged open and early summer heat flowed into the house.   
  
A woman stood in the doorway, panting heavily and holding a hand to her chest. She was tall and slim, with shiny chestnut hair that flowed past her shoulders. It was tied up in a bun that was falling out at the moment. She was dressed in a dark blue short sleeved shirt, and straight legged washed out jeans. On her feet were mud-slicked socks and sneakers. The woman's face was thin and dramatic, covered by a look of pure fear and revulsion.   
  
"She's dead!" The woman cried, tears beginning to slide down her cheeks. "She's dead, all bloody and hacked up. Oh, it's horrible! It's horrible!"  
  
Shawn instinctively moved forward. "Mom, who's dead?" He wrapped an arm around his mother's waist and moved the quivering woman to the den. "What happened? Is it dad? JT? Who?"  
  
The children in the den all moved away from Hope Brady. They had been taught to not speak to certain people, and the Brady's were those people. Belle however, moved forward and placed a hand on Hope's own shaking hand. "What happened, Mrs. Brady? Can you please tell us?"  
  
Hope took a deep breath and began to speak, somewhat stronger than before. "I was going into town for some more bread, because we were out, and I decided to take a short cut though the marsh. It's usually lovely, cool and green in there when it's sweltering out. I thought that perhaps I could cool down because our house was so warm. I was walking down the path and I-"  
  
Hope stopped talking and looked down, tears sliding down her cheeks again. "I-I-I can't."  
  
"Hope, please tell us. We need to know what happened. What did you see?" Marlena's calm, soothing voice asked. She moved forward and stood beside Hope, crouching down so she was level with her. Belle backed off, knowing she wasn't able to deal with this. Shawn looked worriedly at his mother, then backed off as well. He wondered what exactly his mother had seen. Shawn moved to stand beside Belle, who was looking terribly lost and scared. Shawn supposed it would be horrible to have someone die on your birthday. If someone had even died.   
  
Hope coughed, long and loud. Marlena patted her back until she was able to speak again. "Are you ready?"  
  
Hope nodded. "I was walking down the path, and I was admiring how the trees made beautiful patterns on the ground. I was just getting to the pond and I looked up and saw-" Hope paused and took a deep, cleansing breath. "I saw a dead body lying on the ground, all bloody and the insides out and-"  
  
"Ruth! Get these kids out of here!" Marlena interrupted. She didn't want to be responsible for traumatized children. "Ruth!"  
  
Ruth rushed into the room and rounded up the frightened children. "Isabella! Come dear. We'll go into the kitchen. Shawn, you come along too."  
  
"No, I'm staying here," Shawn responded immediately. He went over to the opposite side of Marlena and gripped his mother's hand tightly. "I'm staying with my mom."  
  
Ruth sighed. "Very well. Isabella! Come along." Belle shook her head. "Isabella!"  
  
"She can stay, Ruth," Marlena interrupted once again. Marlena wanted to fins out what had happened. "Now, Hope. Who did you see on the ground?"  
  
"Oh, she was just a baby. Just a pretty young thing! It's horrible! Just horrible!" Hope cried, burying her face in her hands. Marlena rubbed her back soothingly and Shawn found himself gripping Hope's hand even tighter. Belle moved around Hope until she was standing beside Shawn. "It was Jan! Jan Spears all bloody and ripped open! Oh, what a horrible thing!"  
  
Belle sucked in a deep breath, shocked. Jan? Snotty, prissy Jan? Belle suddenly felt very guilty. If she had have invited Jan to her party, like her mother had wanted her to Jan wouldn't have died. It was her fault.  
  
Tears sprung to Marlena's eyes as she remembered the raven-haired girl. She had been a nice young lady, perfectly proper and polite. To be brutally killed like that was horrible. How awful for her parents as well. Marlena couldn't imagine if that happened to Belle.  
  
"Jan?" Shawn choked out, unbelieving and shocked. "It was Jan?" Shawn remembered how mean and cold she was to him, on a daily basis. But also, nobody deserved to die like that. It was just wrong. Shawn suddenly thought of something. "How do we know this is even true? Maybe there is no body at all."  
  
Hope spoke up, stronger than before. "Oh there is a body all right. It's there, on the ground with the insides out. There's a body in that marsh."  
  
tbc... 


	4. Chapter 3

June 24, 1987  
Salem Illinois, USA   
  
Officer Lucas MacBride stared at the mess lying on the ground in the marsh. It was impossible that the body in front of him was a little girl yesterday, he thought, shaking his head. Lucas looked away from the mess and at his partner, James Purcell, who was standing beside him.  
  
"Come on, Luke. Don't look like a scared rabbit. You're a police officer, aren't you? This is your job, so stop being such a wimp."   
  
Tall, dark haired and muscular, James was a man who followed the law in every aspect, from not jaywalking, to helping little old ladies with their groceries. He was also a hard partner to work with, mostly because he hated any signs of weakness. Luke always had to be on the lookout, to make sure his partner didn't see him whimpering over a dead little girl or worry about a supposedly guilty man put in jail.  
  
Truth be told, Luke wanted to whimper over the girl. He wanted to worry about the man. Luke hated that his job was to catch the people who committed crimes. It was horrible that, for Luke to have a job to do, there had to be crimes like this, murders like this. The world was a deadly place.  
  
James moved forward, looking for any signs of evidence. No one had been back in the marsh since Hope Brady had found the body. The police had roped off the entire place. Any evidence that had been there from the murderer should still be there.  
  
Luke moved cautiously around the body, carefully avoiding stepping in any blood. He stood by the greenish water and looked out upon it. The trees surrounding the small pond were beginning to droop from lack of rain, Luke noticed. Colourful flowers and bushes made the Black marsh seem like a friendly place to take a walk through. Birds took flight over head and a small blue duck floated leisurely in the middle of the pond.   
  
Wait a second. A blue duck? Since when has there been blue ducks in Salem? Is there even such a thing as a blue duck?  
  
Luke looked down and found himself knee-deep in the pond. He unconsciously kept moving, getting deeper and deeper in the murky water until it was just below his shoulders.  
  
"Luke! What the hell are you doing?" James called from shore. "Now's not a good time to take a swim. Get out of the damn water."  
  
Luke turned around to face James. "There's something out here in the water! It's on the duck! I'll be right back in." Luke pushed off from the bottom and swam the few short feet to the duck.  
  
On shore James squinted to see the so-called duck. There wasn't one. "Luke! There's no duck out there! Come back in!"  
  
Treading water, Luke realized the duck wasn't moving. He reached out and pulled the blue cloth off of it. And found himself staring into the lifeless eyes of a young woman. A dead young woman.  
  
Shocked and scared Luke swam away from the girl, getting water in his mouth and nose but not caring. He only wanted to get out of the water. When his feet touched the bottom, Luke ran slowly through the murky water and collapsed on the shore, out of breath and scared out of his wits.  
  
"What'd you see, Luke?" James asked. For a second Luke actually thought he was truly concerned. "What scared you? There a frog out there or something."  
  
Luke shook his head, not really catching the sarcasm of James's comment. "A body. Another one, out in the middle. A young women. 'Bout eighteen." Luke stood up and pulled off his sopping wet shirt. "Better go get the others."  
  
James nodded tersely and strode out of the marsh without a word to Luke. Luke looked back at the now still water and shivered. It was suddenly cold in the marsh. Wanting to feel the warm sunlight, Luke walked to the edge of the marsh, the stopped suddenly.  
  
He looked back and remembered the blue cloth from the body. Luke jogged back to where he had dropped it after running out of the water and grabbed it up off the ground. He peered at it for a moment the turned and jogged out of the marsh. 


	5. Chapter 4

June 23, 1987  
Salem, Illinois, USA  
  
Marlena Black placed a round cake with eight candles stuck in it on the crowded dining room table. The small girl who sat behind the large frosted cake was glowing with excitement. She turned her face up to her mothers and grinned widely, displaying a mouth full of baby teeth with only the front two missing.  
  
"Okay, Belle baby. It's time to blow out the candles," Marlena told her daughter, sliding a gentle had over Belle's silky blonde curls. Belle excitedly shut her eyes and took a deep breath. "Don't forget to make a wish."  
  
Belle sat in silence for a moment, deep in thought, while the other children seated around her moved closer. They were hoping to get the first slice of cake. Belle blew, and the all the candles winked out except for one.  
  
At once, a slightly plump, brown haired girl cried out, "Belle's got one boyfriend!"  
  
Belle flushed and angrily puffed the last candle out. "I do not Mimi! You don't know anything!""  
  
"I know you've got a boyfriend," Mimi retorted. Belle stuck her tongue out and Mimi did the same.   
  
Marlena sighed and picked up the knife she'd placed beside the cake. "Girls, please don't fight. This is Belle's party and we don't want any arguments." Mimi slid down in her chair sulkily, crossing her arms over her chest, but Marlena knew that she and Belle would be giggling together tomorrow. Marlena slid the knife into the silky white icing and cut a triangular slice.  
  
Belle picked up the plate as the cake was placed on it, and yelled, "Who wants the first piece?" The kids seated around her all shouted 'me' and 'I do' at Belle.  
  
Belle looked around the table and tried to decide who should get the first piece. To get the first piece of birthday cake was a special honour. Everyone wanted to be the one to get the first piece. Belle's gaze fell on a dark haired boy seated at the end of the table.  
  
Shawn Brady.  
  
Belle hadn't wanted to invite him, but her mother had made her because she was a close friend of Shawn's mother Hope. The town of Salem loved to gossip about Marlena Black and how she took pity in the poor because she was always seen with Hope Brady, but that was far from the truth.  
June 23, 1987  
Salem, Illinois, USA  
  
After Belle had happily ripped presents open, Marlena ushered the rambunctious eight-year-olds into the den. It was probably the only room in the entire house that was completely childproof. After sending the live in maid, Ruth into the den to watch the children, Marlena settled herself down into a comfortable chair, intending to relax for a few moments.   
  
But before she could even begin to relax, Belle raced out of the den, followed by a grinning Shawn Brady. Belle was screeching as Shawn reached out to tug on her long curls. Marlena stood up and stopped the two in their tracks.  
  
"Mama! Tell Shawn to leave me alone! He's pulling my hair." Belle pouted and looked hopefully up at her mother. Maybe she could stop Shawn from being his annoying, smelly self.   
  
Shawn looked embarrassed and cast his wide brown eyes downward to the floor. He mentally scolded himself for being soo rude in the Black's mansion. "I'm sorry Mrs. Black," He said, before Marlena could say a word. "It won't happen again, I promise."  
  
Marlena was shocked. She had never seen a child act so mature before, let alone an eight-year-old boy. Marlena wondered who had taught Shawn to be so guarded when he was in other people's homes. "It's quite all right, Shawn. I'm sure Belle wasn't too hurt by it." Marlena had seen the pleasure underneath the anger in Belle's face. She had been pleased that Shawn had been paying attention. But Belle didn't want Shawn to know that.  
  
"Mama! Aren't you going to yell at him? He was pulling my hair on my birthday!" Marlena shook her head and Belle scowled, stomping back to the den. Shawn smiled at Marlena then chased after Belle.  
  
There was a sound on the front porch that sounded like a very tired someone running heavily. Belle and Shawn stopped to listen. The front door banged open and early summer heat flowed into the house.   
  
A woman stood in the doorway, panting heavily and holding a hand to her chest. She was tall and slim, with shiny chestnut hair that flowed past her shoulders. It was tied up in a bun that was falling out at the moment. She was dressed in a dark blue short sleeved shirt, and straight legged washed out jeans. On her feet were mud-slicked socks and sneakers. The woman's face was thin and dramatic, covered by a look of pure fear and revulsion.   
  
"She's dead!" The woman cried, tears beginning to slide down her cheeks. "She's dead, all bloody and hacked up. Oh, it's horrible! It's horrible!"  
  
Shawn instinctively moved forward. "Mom, who's dead?" He wrapped an arm around his mother's waist and moved the quivering woman to the den. "What happened? Is it dad? JT? Who?"  
  
The children in the den all moved away from Hope Brady. They had been taught to not speak to certain people, and the Brady's were those people. Belle however, moved forward and placed a hand on Hope's own shaking hand. "What happened, Mrs. Brady? Can you please tell us?"  
  
Hope took a deep breath and began to speak, somewhat stronger than before. "I was going into town for some more bread, because we were out, and I decided to take a short cut though the marsh. It's usually lovely, cool and green in there when it's sweltering out. I thought that perhaps I could cool down because our house was so warm. I was walking down the path and I-"  
  
Hope stopped talking and looked down, tears sliding down her cheeks again. "I-I-I can't."  
  
"Hope, please tell us. We need to know what happened. What did you see?" Marlena's calm, soothing voice asked. She moved forward and stood beside Hope, crouching down so she was level with her. Belle backed off, knowing she wasn't able to deal with this. Shawn looked worriedly at his mother, then backed off as well. He wondered what exactly his mother had seen. Shawn moved to stand beside Belle, who was looking terribly lost and scared. Shawn supposed it would be horrible to have someone die on your birthday. If someone had even died.   
  
Hope coughed, long and loud. Marlena patted her back until she was able to speak again. "Are you ready?"  
June 24, 1987  
Salem Illinois, USA   
  
Officer Lucas MacBride stared at the mess lying on the ground in the marsh. It was impossible that the body in front of him was a little girl yesterday, he thought, shaking his head. Lucas looked away from the mess and at his partner, James Purcell, who was standing beside him.  
  
"Come on, Luke. Don't look like a scared rabbit. You're a police officer, aren't you? This is your job, so stop being such a wimp."   
  
Tall, dark haired and muscular, James was a man who followed the law in every aspect, from not jaywalking, to helping little old ladies with their groceries. He was also a hard partner to work with, mostly because he hated any signs of weakness. Luke always had to be on the lookout, to make sure his partner didn't see him whimpering over a dead little girl or worry about a supposedly guilty man put in jail.  
  
Truth be told, Luke wanted to whimper over the girl. He wanted to worry about the man. Luke hated that his job was to catch the people who committed crimes. It was horrible that, for Luke to have a job to do, there had to be crimes like this, murders like this. The world was a deadly place.  
  
James moved forward, looking for any signs of evidence. No one had been back in the marsh since Hope Brady had found the body. The police had roped off the entire place. Any evidence that had been there from the murderer should still be there.  
  
Luke moved cautiously around the body, carefully avoiding stepping in any blood. He stood by the greenish water and looked out upon it. The trees surrounding the small pond were beginning to droop from lack of rain, Luke noticed. Colourful flowers and bushes made the Black marsh seem like a friendly place to take a walk through. Birds took flight over head and a small blue duck floated leisurely in the middle of the pond.   
  
Wait a second. A blue duck? Since when has there been blue ducks in Salem? Is there even such a thing as a blue duck?  
  
Luke looked down and found himself knee-deep in the pond. He unconsciously kept moving, getting deeper and deeper in the murky water until it was just below his shoulders.  
  
"Luke! What the hell are you doing?" James called from shore. "Now's not a good time to take a swim. Get out of the damn water."  
  
Luke turned around to face James. "There's something out here in the water! It's on the duck! I'll be right back in." Luke pushed off from the bottom and swam the few short feet to the duck.  
  
On shore James squinted to see the so-called duck. There wasn't one. "Luke! There's no duck out there! Come back in!"  
  
Treading water, Luke realized the duck wasn't moving. He reached out and pulled the blue cloth off of it. And found himself staring into the lifeless eyes of a young woman. A dead young woman.  
  
Shocked and scared Luke swam away from the girl, getting water in his mouth and nose but not caring. He only wanted to get out of the water. When his feet touched the bottom, Luke ran slowly through the murky water and collapsed on the shore, out of breath and scared out of his wits.  
  
"What'd you see, Luke?" James asked. For a second Luke actually thought he was truly concerned. "What scared you? There a frog out there or something."  
  
Luke shook his head, not really catching the sarcasm of James's comment. "A body. Another one, out in the middle. A young women. 'Bout eighteen." Luke stood up and pulled off his sopping wet shirt. "Better go get the others."  
  
James nodded tersely and strode out of the marsh without a word to Luke. Luke looked back at the now still water and shivered. It was suddenly cold in the marsh. Wanting to feel the warm sunlight, Luke walked to the edge of the marsh, the stopped suddenly.  
  
He looked back and remembered the blue cloth from the body. Luke jogged back to where he had dropped it after running out of the water and grabbed it up off the ground. He peered at it for a moment the turned and jogged out of the marsh. 


	6. 

June 25, 1987  
Salem, Illinois, USA  
  
Belle curled herself into the far corner of her pretty pink bed and wrapped her skinny arms around her legs. Looking at her Smurf watch, Belle saw that it was only five thirty in the morning. No one would be awake for hours yet. Belle interlaced her fingers together around her knees and rested her head on the Barbie pillow sitting on her bed.   
  
Jan was dead.   
  
Belle shivered. It couldn't be possible. It wasn't true. Yet even though she was only eight, Belle knew it was, and she also knew that Blair Henderson had been found floating in the pond, so close it was almost in her backyard.   
  
Belle was a perceptive child, and didn't miss a lot. She noticed when her parents argued, quietly so she wouldn't hear, and she saw the looks the residents in town gave some of the poorer people.  
  
Belle had been huddled in her room, much like right now, when the two police officers had come running from the marsh. The nice one had stopped and run back in, Belle remembered, then came out with something blue. Furrowing her brow, Belle tried to remember what it had looked like. A piece of clothing or a blanket maybe.  
  
A rustling outside of her door brought Belle out of her thoughts. She pushed herself onto her knees, then crawled off the bed and crept to the door. Belle placed her hand on the smooth metal knob and turned.   
  
"Shawn?" Belle whispered her blue eyes wide open. "What are you doing?"  
  
Shawn looked somewhat sheepish. "I couldn't sleep and I... uh... I thought you might be awake." He looked down at the dark blue carpet covering the upstairs hallway. "I'll go back to my room, if you want." Shawn turned to leave.  
  
Belle was very confused. Why was Shawn Brady in her house at five thirty in the morning? What did he mean his room? What the hey was going on?  
  
"Just wait a second. What are you doing here, Shawn? How come you're in my house at five thirty in the morning?" Belle asked, relaying her thoughts to the messy haired boy in front of her.  
  
"Your parents let my mom and dad stay here last night. I guess it was after your dad took you to bed." Shawn shifted uncomfortably. "I stayed with my mom. Look, I'll just leave now. See you later." Shawn headed down the hall to where Belle guessed he was staying.  
  
"Night," Belle said softly.   
  
*****  
  
Marlena and Hope were cooking breakfast in the kitchen when someone knocked loudly on the front door. Marlena wiped her hands on her apron and went to answer the door. Before she could open it though, a loud male voice shouted through the door.  
  
"Police! Open up!" A loud voice boomed from outside.   
  
Marlena gasped and practically flew to the door. She wrenched it open and was faced by four or five police officers looking grim. "Officers. How can I help you?"  
  
Ignoring Marlena's polite greeting the officers pushed past her and ran through the house. Feeling very worried; Marlena hurriedly closed the front door and followed the policemen.   
  
"... You're under arrest for the murders of Janice Spears and Kathryn Graham. Anything you say can, and will be used against you in a court of law. You will be allowed a lawyer. If you can not afford a lawyer one will be appointed to you." Officer James Purcell slapped a pair of handcuffs onto a dark haired man, as Marlena came into the kitchen.  
  
"What are you doing?" She exclaimed in a nervous, high-pitched voice. "You can't arrest him! He didn't even do anything!" Marlena glared at the officers as she comforted a weeping Hope. "Let him go this minute!"  
  
One of the officers shook his head. "We can't do that ma'am. We found evidence that states he was the man who killed both girls."   
  
Shawn just happened to walk in that second. "Hey! Hey, what are you doing to my dad? Let him go!" He ran forward and tugged at the handcuffs encasing his father's wrists. "Take these things off of him! C'mon let him go!" Shawn was almost crying now, and no one noticed when Belle crept in, quiet as a mouse.  
  
"Honey, come here. Come here baby," Hope called, tears still sliding down her slim cheeks. Shawn meekly moved to his mother, who wrapped him in a soothing hug as Bo was led out of the house. Hope felt Shawn's body begin to shake and she hugged him tighter rocking him back and forth, as much for him as herself.  
  
"Mama? What's going on?" Marlena, who had been standing at the sink looking out the window, turned around at Belle's tiny voice.   
  
"Oh, baby." Marlena opened her arms and she looked so distraught that Belle ran into them right away. "Don't worry, Belle. Everything is going to be okay. Don't worry baby."  
  
Belle took one look at Hope and Shawn, both weeping and not knowing where one ended and the other began, and knew that everything was not going to be okay. Everything was different now.  
  
Everything.  
  
tbc... 


End file.
